His uber-wealthy British benefactor Jim Ratcliffe helped ensure everything would be just right for Kipchoge and his crew: the team opted for Vienna instead of London because the weather was more predictable, and they could run on a long, straight street next to the Danube for more than 90 percent of the marathon, with the most efficient path around the corners marked out in orange they consulted elite cycling trainers to determine the best formation for Kipchoge's pacers to insulate him within ( a reverse flying V) those pacesetters included several former Olympic medalists like Matt Centrowitz and Bernard Lagat. When Kipchoge ripped off his 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2018, he did so in the best possible conditions. The thing is, he already has run a marathon in less than two hours. Kipchoge is, by every metric, the best marathoner in the world and is clearly improving, but because his new world record mark is only 69 seconds north of a clean two hours, the question of What is next? is acutely relevant: Can Kipchoge become the first runner to set the world record below two hours? Every single one of those numbers is outrageous elite distance runners age up into longer races-think Alan Webb and Kenenisa Bekele pivoting from the mile and 5K all the way up to the marathon-yet Kipchoge breaking the record six weeks before his 38th birthday made him the oldest runner to break the marathon world record since Carlos Lopes did it in 1985 only six runners have run within two minutes of Kipchoge's new record, and only one has come within 90 seconds.

This past weekend, 37-year-old Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge ran 26.2 consecutive miles at a 4:37 pace to win the Berlin Marathon and crush his own world record by 30 whole seconds.

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